TDB president meets Devaswom minister, assures smooth Sabarimala pilgrimage

Thiruvananthapuram, TDB president K Jayakumar on Friday met Devaswom Minister K Muraleedharan and briefed him on preparations for the upcoming Sabarimala pilgrimage season.

The meeting assumes significance as Muraleedharan had recently expressed displeasure over the shortage of aravana payasam at Sabarimala and the delays in the Travancore Devaswom Board tendering process for procuring raw materials ahead of the pilgrimage season.

Aravana payasam is a sweet dish made from red rice, jaggery and ghee and a traditional temple 'prasadam' or sacred offering in the state, especially at the Lord Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala.

Jayakumar had earlier attributed the aravana payasam shortage to an unexpected increase in the number of devotees and said the Board was taking steps to increase production capacity ahead of the pilgrimage season.

The TDB president had also met Chief Minister V D Satheesan recently and briefed him about the preparations at Sabarimala.

The upcoming Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season will commence on November 16.

Jayakumar met Muraleedharan at the latter's office on Friday morning and the meeting lasted more than 15 minutes.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Muraleedharan said the government and the TDB would work together to ensure that devotees do not face difficulties during the pilgrimage season.

"The Board and the government are working together. He has given an assurance that this season's pilgrimage will be made smoothly. Therefore, there is no scope for apprehension. We will move forward together," the minister said.

"The chief minister had spoken with him. With the Board and the government working together, things will go smoothly this time without any difficulty for the devotees," he said.

Asked whether the recent developments had caused a rift between the government and the Board, Muraleedharan said apprehensions had naturally arisen as the government would have to answer if there were any hindrances during the pilgrimage.

"But the Board itself took the initiative in that matter to reach an understanding. Not only that, he has agreed to directly give a report on works carried out in Sabarimala every week," he said.

The TDB has said preparations for the pilgrimage season will be completed by October 31, while steps are also being taken to increase the daily production capacity of aravana payasam and improve crowd management arrangements at Nilakkal.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.